When You're Gone
The pale shadows of the night made even the town of Quahog seem peaceful. There was no one on the streets at this late hour. However on Spooner St, a pale teen girl sat on the roof of her home in crying quietly. Her eyes were red and her short brown hair a mess. Yesterday had she had recieved the news that Kevin, her neighbor, ex-boyfriend and good friend had been killed overseas. In her hands was a letter that had arrived the day she had gotten the news.
Dear Meg,
How are you? What crazy schemes have our dads gotten into this time? Do I even want to know? Did my mom go into labor yet?
Life over here is pretty rough, but I know I made the right choice when I enlisted. I want my baby sister to grow up in a world that is safer than the one we've known. My tour of duty will be up by the time you graduate. I want to come back afterwards to earn a degree. I'm thinking I want to go to Providence or Brown. Those are schools you're considering too, right? Maybe once I get back we can get an apartment in Providence. We both need to get away from Quahog. I miss you!
Love,
Kevin
P.S. When is your graduation? I want to be there.
Rereading the letter, Meg felt a new sense of numbness overcome her. She had lost the one person in her life who didn't hate her for an inexplicable reason; she's lost the only person who she had really loved.
Although she had her share of boyfriends, a surprising amount for a girl who was considered ugly and unpopular, but Kevin had been her first. It was with him, she had first held hands with a boy; it was with him, she had her first kiss.
The letter was not the only item she had brought with her to the roof. In her hands was a razor. Although she had not cut in a long time, the pain of losing Kevin was too much for her to handle. She thought briefly of how he had discovered the marks on her arm during a neighborhood party.
He had grabbed her by the arm and taken her into the woods. "What are these marks, Meg," he asked. "What are you doing?"
"It's nothing," she mumbled. He pulled up her sleeve and found more marks. "You call this nothing?" His temper, so like his father's, was flaring. "This is not nothing, Meg! I care about you too much to see you do this to yourself!"
Meg's eyes filled with tears. "If you really care, why are you leaving me?" Kevin stepped back as if she had struck him, surprised by the venom of her answer.
"I enlisted because I am not ready to go to college yet nor do I want to follow in my dad's footsteps. A career in the military is a good path. I'll find my direction there." He paused. "If I want any future with you, I'll need a career. Becides the time apart will be good for us. You'll be free to explore your own options to see if a future together is what you want too."
Meg gasped. "You really want to spend your future with me?" She was in shock.
"Yes, but I want you to want it too. I'll write you everyday"
Kevin had kept his promise. He wrote her on a daily basis. His letters never included much information about his location or missions because the information was classified, but he still found something to say. Meg had faithfully replied, even as she dated other boys, lost her virginity on live tv, had her brother Chris join her at James Woods High and through the many adventures that had occured since Kevin left for Iraq. Despite everything that happened, he was still what she wanted.
She dropped the razor. She couldn't bring herself to do it. Her pain was too deep. She'd lost enough already without losing too much more of herself.